LEAGUE NEWS

The NRL is set to farewell Allianz Stadium with its biggest finals crowd at the venue in at least 13 years after being gifted a rivalry weekend of preliminary finals.

The Sydney Roosters and South Sydney have never met in a finals match at the Sydney Football Stadium, which has not attracted more than 40,000 fans for September football since 2005.

The NRL last week defended the decision to host the Roosters' preliminary final at the ground, with boss Todd Greenberg revealing forecasts for the match were for between 40,000-50,000 in the 45,500-capacity stadium which includes standing room and members.